bone tired

there is always hope

Ronin probably should have gone to the Infirmary after he'd reached the top of the steps out of the Spire, coughing and spluttering and feeling altogether pretty wretched. The tumble down the steps and the poisonous gas had combined into an unpleasant miasma of hurts, and Ronin probably couldn't have said which was giving him more grief at any given moment.

Was it the burning in his lungs? The stinging of his eyes? The metallic taste in his mouth or his pounding head? Granted, the rest of him felt like it had been beaten by something twice his size too, and he was covered in a fine layer of dust and blood as he clicked open the guildhall doors. No, not the Infirmary. He wanted something else.

"Honey, I'm home," he called in a rasp, the hunter shuffling into the great hall and finding a wall to prop himself against. Sugar, still draped about his shoulders, trilled a note of worry up the stairs, hopeful that someone would be home.

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

Distracted was one of Remi's most common frames of mind.

As it was, the alchemist was hunched over what appeared to just be a simple piece of parchment. Tongue hanging from the side of his mouth as he absently and constantly licked his lips, pale eyes intent on what was in front of him, miraculously, his drawing became 3D once he raised his charcoal from the paper.

Triumph rained across Remi's boyish and unshaven features as he heard the door open, close, and Ronin say something. "Hey, you have got to come and see thi—" Glancing up, the excitement evaporated instantly. Ronin wasn't close enough for Remi to know what was wrong, but seeing his friend slumped against the wall, Sugar crooning worriedly was enough to tell Remi that what not withstanding, something was certainly wrong.

"What happened?" Remi asked, rising immediately to his feet and knocking the parchment over in the process as he hurried to Ronin's side. Hissing in a gasp at seeing the state the hunter was in, Remi frowned, immediately conjuring bits of cloth to clean Ronin off with.

there is always hope

"Ah, there you are. Hey Remi." Ronin smiled lopsidedly at his friend and lover, letting Sugar jump from around his shoulders to perch with the alchemist instead.

"Oh, I just had a fight with a set of stone steps. The steps won - sort of. They collapsed on me, so... I guess maybe we both lost." He was rambling, trying to straighten up at the same time and touching a hand to the back of his head, where blood had caked into his hair.

"Amalia asked for help looking for the tumbumblar in the bottom of the Spire," he explained. "I went with her, and now this. Whoops."

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

Remi frowned, but there was a hint of amusement lingering at the corners of his lips. If he panicked everytime Ronin came home bloodied and covered in dust, barely able to stand or speak coherently, he'd constantly be in a state of upset. Had they promised they'd be more careful? Of course. And you know...Ronin had come home after all. That was being more careful.

"Ahh well, steps can be very tricky when they want to be." Remi smirked, subtly inhaling but finding no scent of alcohol lingering on Ronin. Why was he so...dopy then? "A tum..what? And wait, you went into the Spire?" Okay. Ignore the comments about being more careful.

Sliding an arm around Ronin to hold him up and force him into the kitchen where Remi could properly see him and clean him up, it was then that the alchemist (more properly the lion) scented the blood. "Ronin." He scolded affectionately, reaching gently into the ex-captain's dark mop and gingerly feeling the dried blood.

"Look at me."

there is always hope

"A tumbumblar Remi, gods." Ronin huffed, like the alchemist was being the slow one. "It lives in the big woods and it eats memories and it's very nice. Amalia said there's one under the Spire." Shrugging, he slung an arm around the other man readily, letting himself be guided into the kitchen (Sugar trilled her annoyance at being squashed by his arm).

He pouted at the other man at the incredulous tone, Ronin wobbling as they drew to a halt but staying on his feet thanks to Remi. "The Spire's not dangerous any more. What's wrong with going down there? I mean... obviously the stairs are out to get me, but yeah."

"Remi." Ronin used the same tone, grinning and fixing blue eyes on the alchemist. He flashed him a dirty smile. "Hey," he said, leaning in for a clumsy kiss.

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

Remi raised his eyebrows, mock seriousness on his face as he listened. "I do not think I have heard you tell this story to Aoife before." He chuckled. "Eating memories. That is a nice touch."

Giving his friend an incredulous look, Remi could only grin and shake his head. "Last I heard there was poisonous gas down there still? And, as you pointed out, some very hostile steps." Though he tried, he couldn't help the crooked smile that Ronin's poor pantomime of him caused. Indeed, the ex-captain's lips met only laughter rather than a reciprocated gesture.

"You are a mess." Remi said affectionately, but also objectively. Placing a hand on Ronin's cheek, the alchemist peered into his sea-washed blue stare. "And you very probably have a concussion. Well done you."

there is always hope

"It's true," Ronin insisted with a sigh that suggested he was too tired and achy to try to convince Remi in any creative kind of way.

"Jigano was there, and Deimos, and some Fae woman and a bunch of other people with the wings." He shrugged. Granted, the whole poisonous gas situation was a solemn reminder of the danger they might be in currently. Too bad Ronin's mind was like a bag with a hole in it, right now.

"You're a concussion," he said childishly, though his smile was warm as Remi guided him back, Ronin leaning into his touch. "Well done, me! What do I win?"

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

"I suppose my invite got lost in the mail." Remi said shaking his head. Then again, if Jigano had anything to do with it, the alchemist was probably more right about it than he wanted to give himself time to think about.

"Well—" With a boyish grin, knowing it would do good to actually chastize Ronin with his concussion (or at any other time, really), Remi continued to try and direct him into the kitchen. "You win a thorough scrubbing and icing from the two of us," The alchemist raised a brow towards Sugar before continuing. "And then! One whole night in bed in which you do not move or fuss, don't pick at the wound on the back of your head, and try not to throw up."

Trying to place Ronin into a chair so he could wet some strips of cloth to begin part 1 of Ronin's 'prize', Remi glanced towards the ex-captain with warm amusement. "How does that sound?"

there is always hope

"Silly bean - there weren't invites, we just showed up." Ronin scoffed and nudged the other man. The movement almost sent him tumbling back, but hey he was fine. He followed along like a good little soldier as Remi finished carting him to the kitchen, his ears sharp to find out what he had apparently won.

And whilst Remi's tone was lovely, Ronin sinking down obediently into the chair, what he was saying was... it wasn't... it didn't match exactly with...

"Uh... yes. That sounds good." The hunter smiled sunnily up at Remi, obviously too confused to try and figure out whether it was any good or not to object. "Will you hold my hair if I throw up?"

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

Silly bean? The concussion was worse than he thought, but he had to admit that seeing this absolutely pathetic and ridiculous side of Ronin was absolutely charming. "Just showed up, huh. I will have to remember that excuse next time." Remi quipped back with a grin.

Frowning, Remi fixed the ex-captain with a stair as he finished wetting the cloths. "The point is to not throw up." The alchemist reminded his friend. Moving towards him, gently Remi let his fingers comb gingerly into Ronin's hair, using his earthen magic to pull out the dust and debris. "So you made it down the stairs. Are the others still in there, do you think?" He asked, if only to keep Ronin talking to that he'd not fall asleep.

"This is going to sting." Remi warned, holding out the cloth for Sugar to cool before pressing it against the graze at the back of Ronin's head.

there is always hope

"Ohhh. Oh. Okay, yeah. I'll not throw up then," Ronin said, wanting to nod but reminding himself not to just in case the movement caused the inevitable to happen. Leaning forward into Remi's touch and grumbling as he began to fuss over the cut on the back of his head (and not noticing, luckily, as Sugar cooled down the cloths that the alchemist offered her), Ronin sighed and considered his question.

"I think so, yeah. Vai showed up - think Sugar must have found her. They are all still down there now, I think-" Ronin cut himself off by his own soft hiss of pain, the sensation a sobering one to say the least. Gently he grasped Remi's forearm, if only to anchor against the cold ache that rippled through his skull.

"You were very right. It does sting."

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

"Vai did?" Remi repeated sounding surprised. The huntress had seemingly been content with remaining int he woods...but if Sugar had been the one to get her, Remi couldn't much imagine she would turn down the dragon. It also reassured him that if Vai thought Ronin was healthy enough to return home, that there was likely nothing disastrously wrong with him. Just a concussion, then.

Remi hummed a soothing note almost instinctively, one hand absently running through Ronin's hair as the other worked quickly and efficiently to clean the open wound despite Ronin's grip on him. "You have been hurt far worse than this." The alchemist laughed, cleaning as fast as he could. "I can make you something to bite down on, if you cannot manage." He added with a cheeky grin.

there is always hope

"Mm, Vai did," Ronin confirmed, wanting to nod but thinking better of it, and instead closing his eyes to try and concentrate on the feel of fingers in his hair rather than the cold compress getting the dirt and grit out of the cut on his head.

"I suppose that's true," he agreed, albeit reluctantly. "At least I got someone to play nurse for me these days, huh?" His laughter was mischievous, and by Remi's last comment they were on the same page - not that it was unusual.

Scoffing, he glanced up at Remi. "I'd rather something to suck on," he said.

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

"Play?" Remi scoffed, crinkling his nose with mock-scorn. "I am not playing at anything. I have gotten rather good at this, living with you."

Raising a brow and biting hard on the inside of his lip to keep from laughing, Remi glanced at Sugar, winking at her in the hope that she'd keep her mental bond with Ronin silent for a moment. Mouthing something to her, the alchemist was pleased when the dragonling did precisely as he'd hoped.

"Something hard, maybe? Something just dying to be warmed up?" Quickly doing something, Remi pulled back from his corrent position over Ronin's head and leaned down. Moving in to kiss the ex-captain, Remi's tongue would try and part his lips and then immediately insert a cube of ice that Sugar had just created.